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Friday, 30 September 2011

I went to a wedding yesterday. The wedding of a special person. OK, I know that everyone is special in one way or another but for today I'm going to concentrate on why Marsha is special. I've known Marsha for quite a long time. Before she became the beautiful young lady she is now. When she was a beautiful pre-teen/teen. For the record I don't use the word beautiful simply or only as a physical attribute but to include beauty of spirit and personality. Marsha has stayed with me in New Zealand and has been one of the most delightful of visitors. She even played croquet! Big plus!

So today I am thankful for the new life that Marsha and Moe are making for themselves. May it be a long and happy marriage. If the rest of their lives is half as good as the wedding was then it should be a pretty good life!

Thursday, 29 September 2011

This morning as we were driving into Glasgow from Bishopbriggs I overtook a tricycle keeping a perfect line to the left in the heavy main road traffic and traveling at an astonishing speed. Anticipating that the rider might be going to the local shopping complex and not into the City centre I pulled off the main road and lay in wait. Actually I didn't have to wait. Thanks to a red traffic light I managed to capture some photos.

Monday, 26 September 2011

I went for another cycle ride this afternoon. Just a short one. It was 42℃ on the terrace at Maumulon this afternoon. A record high for this time in September over the last 12 years that John has been taking temperatures. So I cycled down the lane. Having spent half the day chasing a Red Admiral on the Sedum in the garden I discovered a wild Sedum out in the countryside. It was covered in bees, hover flies, things I couldn't identify and butterflies: Small Copper (to quote Adrian 'I hope'), Red Admirals and Peacocks in particular. Having posted a Peacock already here's the other two:

Sunday, 25 September 2011

For as long as I can remember the parrot has been hanging in the doorway between the kitchen and the salon in John and Sue's French home. Hanging in the other side of the doorway (which is about 5 feet wide) is a (very successful) flypaper. In between the two is a gap of about 4 feet: a perfectly respectable gap through which to manoeuvre my relatively thin body. On the whole I've managed to avoid the parrot over the years and I've never touched a flypaper. I arrived this time and managed to walk with my bare arm straight into the flypaper. That is not a thing to be recommended. Since then I assume in my enthusiasm for avoiding a second confrontation with the flypaper I've managed to bang into the parrot several times. Anyway all that rambling was just so that I could show you a dead parrot picture:

Saturday, 24 September 2011

Some of you may have heard that the Rugby World Cup is on at the moment and that it's being played in New Zealand. Now what happens if you are a person born in Liverpool. Despite rumours that around the time I was born there were only Liverpool Welsh, Liverpool Irish, Liverpool Scots, Liverpool West Indian and Liverpool Chinese some people actually think that Liverpool is in England. Of course it's not. So by birth I'm a Liverpool Lancastrian. By length of time I've lived in one place ie the Outer Hebrides of Scotland where I've lived well over half my days, I'm a Hebridean Scot.

I've never had any nationalistic tendencies because I tend (perhaps irrationally) to associate nationalism with extremism and intolerance. Of course that doesn't apply in matters of sport. Does it?

When I was a youngster and in the days of Gareth Edwards, possibly the greatest ever rugby player, I was a Wales Supporter. But that allegiance ended in the '70s (together with the Welsh team).

When I went to live half my year in New Zealand I got over the problem of which team to support by deciding that when I'm living in New Zealand I support the All Blacks and when I'm in Scotland I support the national team. Well that's the theory. Problem is that the heart tends to find the ABs more exciting and compelling.

At the moment I'm in France.

I'm afraid that I don't see Scotland making much headway. I think France will come second to the ABs in Pool A. I won't go any further but at the end of the day I can't see the ABs not being in the final.

I cycled from Maumulon to Mauprevoir yesterday afternoon: a pleasant 25 k round trip. I Googled the village and discovered that the name mauprevopir.com has been reserved on gandi.net and parked as unused. So no help there then. In fact no help anywhere it seems. But then when I arrived it didn't seem that Mauprevoir needed any help from the internet. It seems to be a thriving, if small, community in what must be one of the tidiest and prettiest villages in the Vienne. I hope that all the other pretty villages are not reading this. Don't think I need to worry. If I have a French reader other than someone I already know I'd be surprised.

Anyway I thought that whilst I was at it I'd have a play with JogTracker the new app toy on my phone. A click here (if you do want to open it I suggest you do so in a new tab) will show you my journey and a map - I hope.

I had an excellent coffee at Le Diament bar. The English proprietors are working on it to open a café/restaurant in the New Year and to add letting bedrooms.

In the meantime here are some of the (inevitable) photos I took:

The Chateau of Mauprevoir.

The Church of St Impère, a 225m2 structure with Gothic windows.

The Village centre with the bar

A window over the River Payroux

A touch of New Zealand's habit of painting pictures on any structure that stands still long enough. In this case the bus stop and public convenience

Friday, 23 September 2011

We've just looked at the Météo France forecast for the next few days. I
go back to Scotland on Tuesday. Quel dommage! Even worse for John and
Sue is that they are taking me to Poitiers for the train when they
could be sunning themselves on the terrace on Tuesday - the hottest day.

Whilst I'm on the subject of things that amuse me as we were driving out of the supermarket this morning I spied a slot machine for hot pizza. I thought that France was the land of haute cuisine and discerning eaters. Hmmm.

Thursday, 22 September 2011

The Common Wall lizard, Podarcis muralis, is a common sight around buildings in France many of which have lots of crevices for the lizards to dart into when they feel threatened. I'm sure it's not my imagination and that there are more this year than usual.

Tuesday, 20 September 2011

I love French street markets. Today we went to Civray Market, It appears to be winding down and was not as large as it is in the full height of the summer but it was still interesting and there were a few photographs to be had:

Monday, 19 September 2011

Friday night seven of us went to Auriac-sur-Dropt to Le Camélia restaurant. What a superb place with friendly unfazed service of good food and excellent local wine all at a very reasonable price. A sign of its popularity was the number of people who were disappointed having been turned away because they had no booking.

SO NEAR

We may be apart but when I look at the sky and remember that we are standing on the same earth, looking at the same moon, somehow you don't seem so far away after all.

LIFE

Life isn't about dawdling to the grave, arriving safely in an attractive, wrinkle-free body but rather an adventure that ends skidding in sideways, champagne in one hand, strawberries in the other, totally worn out, screaming "Yee-ha. What a ride!!"

Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass… It’s about learning to dance in the rain. (With thanks to shabby girl ofA Travelling Fish)

But what are plans other than more restrictions? (With thanks to Pauline)

Feeling young is fabulous but growing old is a blessing!!!(A comment on this blog by Jaz who used to writeTreacy Travels.)

The trick to pushing 70, GB, is to push back -- hard!!!(A comment by Carol aka Canadian Chickadee who comments but does not blog)

I am he who I am

Having lived the majority of my life in the Hebrides where my heart is, I feel I can now call myself a Hebridean. For nine years I lived half my life in New Zealand: a country I love. It was an honour being a part time Kiwi.

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